Television shows...

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  • Television shows...

    I'm currently working on a script based around the creation of an American TV series...

    What I'd like to learn is: how a show is written on a day-to-day basis -- how much input do showrunners have vs. how much the staff writers contribute.

    If anyone knows any interesting articles on this subject - ie personal stories from the inside - in particular on a series that was cancelled and its subsequent fallout - then I'd be very grateful!

    Also, any interesting fan reaction to a cancelled show - even if it only ran a few episodes...

    Thanks.

  • #2
    Re: Television shows...

    This is by no means what it's like on EVERY show, but it's a general rundown of how things happen. Each staff writer will be given a couple episodes a season to write. They will generally come up with a basic episode idea, and then go over it with the showrunner. The showrunner then has the final say in everything (not counting any network notes). At the same time, the episode will be discussed in the writers room, usually between the ~6 to 10 staff writers. Once everything is brainstormed out for the episode, the writer will go off and write it (outline/treatment/script, whatever), getting notes from each 'draft.' A typical script for a TV episode is written from scratch to shooting in about 8 days. Of course, the obvious outlier here would be Lost episode "The Constant," by showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. That episode took them 5 weeks to break due to its extensive use of time travel.

    It depends on the showrunner, I think, in how much autonomy the writer has. Some showrunners are very hands on (Aaron Sorkin is the epitome of this, I believe) and others are not.

    There are a lot of TV blogs out there that discuss the inner workings of the writers room. Jane Espenson's is considered the gold standard. That blog is required reading in its entirety. The wealth of information held within it is astounding.

    Look up the cancellation of Jericho. The fan reaction was highly publicized. (They sent 40,000 pounds of peanuts to the CBS headquarters is a massive campaign for renewal. CBS listened, and brought the show back for a 6 episode second season that wrapped the storyline up.)

    INT. PINEAPPLE - DAY


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    • #3
      Re: Television shows...

      This is great stuff, Studio's - I'm currently going through Jane Espenson's blog which looks exactly what I'm after

      Drive was another early cancellation which caused an outcry, and had the creators having to explain where the series would have gone.

      One more question - do networks make Pilots anymore? One-off shows to see how they score with viewers (or internally?) - or do they simply green-light a series and show number one becomes the "pilot".

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      • #4
        Re: Television shows...

        Yes, they still make pilots. The networks show them internally to test audiences before greenlighting to series, though. The pilot is almost always aired on TV as the first episode.

        INT. PINEAPPLE - DAY


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        • #5
          Re: Television shows...

          There's a movie called THE TV SET that lives in that world. John August's THE NINES also has segments that deal with the creator of a TV pilot.

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          • #6
            Re: Television shows...

            Originally posted by jimjimgrande View Post
            There's a movie called THE TV SET that lives in that world.
            Tagline - "A place where dreams are cancelled"

            I'd never heard of this (it never got a UK release) so thanks! I'll try and import a copy, and get The Nines too.

            Cheers again, Studios.

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            • #7
              Re: Television shows...

              Again, please don't take what I say as word of God. I've never been within 100 miles of a writers room (except for maybe that one time I went to NYC when I was 10). I'm just a guy whose read a sh*load on the subject in preparation for when I break in.

              INT. PINEAPPLE - DAY


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